


Times Have Changed, But My Love For You Hasn't

by Skiewrites



Series: Soulmates AU [1]
Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: All the good stuff Tokyo Ghoul gave us, Angst, Child Abuse, Gen, Sadness, Soulmates, Soulmates AU, slight metions of child abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2016-09-15
Packaged: 2018-07-18 05:33:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7301467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skiewrites/pseuds/Skiewrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Soulmate AU: In which one of the pair have the first words the other says on their wrist and the other has the last words that the first would say on their wrist. </p><p>XxX</p><p>The only thing that stops you from doing anything is your own fear, and nothing else. When that fear is gone you're floating in the air with nothing to hold you back. Kaneki lives by his fear, chained to the ground, with his back to the sun but not wanting to be selfish enough to want to turn around and look at it. But when Hide, a free spirit with no chains at all, comes and changes his perception of everything he once knew, maybe all he wants is his own sun to stay by his side, chains and all.</p><p>But, in the end, the world is still wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 言葉　－　Words

**Author's Note:**

> Just to mention this right now, I am no expert in Japanese, I have just used google translate for these words, if you know a better translation, then please comment and tell me what it is. I will also apologies for any OOC that any of the characters have, especially Hide. I found him very hard to write. Also, this is canon-ish, cause I'm going to follow canon for now, but I'm not too sure on how to end it.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so they met again, on the same hill, facing the same court, introdused with the same words, but, is it really the same?

Kaneki never liked going home.

That wasn’t to say, that he didn’t love his mother, for he did. Despite the fact that she was often missing from the small two bed apartment, he loved her ever so much. She was such a hardworking person, so selfless and humble towards others. He tried his best to be just like mother, Kaneki did. However, he was such a selfish person, too easily given in by his wants and desires and quick to lie, either to himself or others. His mother tried her best to punish it out of him, she did. It never worked, and that was not the reason for his dislike towards his home.

Everyone is born with a sentence on the wrist that they write with, and this sentence is said from their soulmate. However, one of the pair holds the first sentence that the other would speak and the other holds the last spoken words that the first would ever say to them. It was hard to tell which was which. Some were easy, like the cursive ‘さようなら (1) written on his middle school teacher’s wrist. His mother’s was vaguer than his teacher’s, ‘とまれ’ (2) and decorated her right wrist, hiding the secrets that his mother’s past contained, something that she didn't talk about and something that Kaneki knew nothing about. His was longer and went around his whole wrist, almost touching around the back. ‘家に帰りましょう’ (3). It was such a common phrase that people use all the time, meaning that at any time he might meet the love of his life. But at the same time, it could mean he might never see that person ever again. It scared him.

He never liked travelling home on his own. The news was always talking about some murders that was on the street and the occasional ghoul attack that happened, but that was rare in the 20th ward. The problem was that he was too afraid to ask in fear of the words written around his wrist, it was as if he was ruled by them and lived his life abiding by them. 

The only problem was that there wasn’t anything he could do to stop the words from controlling his life.

* * *

Nagachika Hideyoshi had simple desires for a simple life, thought out by a simple elementary schooler. He had no wishes for complicated stories that would confuse those who didn’t like to open a book that had no pictures and he had no plans for a dramatic high school experience. Something, he did want was to find his soulmate.

His grandmother told him, just before they moved, that his soulmate would be there for the rest of his life if he were to meet him. He was told that everybody had one, that everyone one meets theirs in some way or another, whether it be for 50 seconds or 50 years. The first words the other speaks is written into the wrist of one and the last words they speak is written into the other. This part confused Hide for a while, for how could you tell one from another? His grandmother had said that some people’s words were much clearer than others. But she had also said that it didn’t matter, that all will be well when they met each other.

That didn’t really answer Hide’s question, but when he told that to his grandmother, she only smiled and told him not to worry. So being the bright sunshine that he was, Hide carried on with his simple life, only to discover that moving was just not that simple.

It was a new place, and new crowd with new people and new faces. There were unfamiliar streets, shops and sights that he needed to learn. That was okay for Hide, for all he had to do was ‘try and make the best of it’, if he were to quote his mother.

One thing that made his simple life hard was himself. He was very observative, as his father called it, when ever he saw him that is, saying that being able to pick up anomalies in people and deduce why is a gift given to few. It was a strange gift, Hide mused, and one that he didn’t show off to everyone. He wasn’t special at all, just someone who knew how to properly use their eyes. It was hardly his fault that some people would be creeped out by what he could do, but it did serve him as entertainment when he was out with his grandmother,the nosey hag. As for him, he would just look around to see if there was ghoul, which was surprisingly hard in some cases, making Hide curious about what their past was like if they were able to immigrant so smoothly into the everyday life of a human being.

There wasn’t a ghoul in his new school, or, at least one that he had noticed, he hadn’t been at the school for very long, and certainly not long enough to see everyone that went here. There was, however, a human that caught his eye. He had black hair, soft grey eyes and his nose in a new book every day. He was also very alone, for he didn’t participate in socializing with the rest of the class. So, Hide decided to approach him after school one night, on a hill, overlooking a baseball court.

“You’ve always got your nose in a book, haven’t you (4)?”

The little boy, for he was small for the age group and one of the smallest in the class, something that Hide had noted in his brain, looked up at Hide from his book, and from what Hide could see, the Kanji looked harder than even an average middle schooler would learn. He was so caught up in trying to figure out what the black haired was trying to read that he almost missed to quiet voice that came out of the others mouth.

“Is that wrong?” 

Hide thought for a moment, was it wrong to read? There were several things wrong in the world, and way that the world worked, but Hide didn’t think that enjoying a hobby, even if it was one that he disliked, was wrong. 

“No, it’s not. I’ve just moved into this ward, and I was just wondering if you would be my friend?” 

The small child, not that Hide had any rights to call his maybe-friend that, (but he was definitely small, and is that a bruise on his arm?) looked thoughtful for a moment, but quickly replied with a quick, but again quiet, yes. 

“Cool! My name is Nagachika Hideyoshi, but that’s such a mouthful, so you can call me Hide.” Hide said as he want to sit down with his new found friend.

The other boy gave out his hand and replied with, “nice to meet you Hide, my name is Kaneki Ken.” Hide was quick to grab the others hand and to shake it.

* * *

It wasn’t until later, when he was walking home alone, now staring at his wrist with realisation that ‘間違っですか’ (5) was the first words spoken by his new-found friend. Now, maybe, his life might be as simple as he wants it to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I am no expert in Japanese, I have used google translate for these words, so if you do know a better translation, then please comment and tell me what it is.
> 
> 1 - さようなら – (sayounara) this is ‘goodbye’ in Japanese  
> 2 –とまれ – (Tomare) this is ‘stop’ in Japanese.  
> 3 - 家に帰りましょう – (Kaerimashou) this means ‘let’s go home.’ In Japanese.  
> 4 – I’m not too sure on what is actually said for it has been a while since I’ve seen the anime  
> 5 -間違っですか (machigaddesu ka) this means ‘is it wrong?’ in Japanese.
> 
> 01 - 07 - 2016 NOTE:
> 
> I've updated this thanks to some comments that have really helped me with this. Due to said comments, The translations are much more accurate and should make more sense to those who know the language better than I do. Also, after reading this chapter and the next, I noticed a continuity error, but that's gone now.


	2. 文献　－   Literature

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reading is an important part of discovery and learning, however, it can't stop you from being selfish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The italics are part of another story that I am currently writing and Kaneki is reading.

_There hasn’t been a lot of research on soulmates, mainly due to inhumanity of even the thought of being tested on to see how science could explain the phenomenon that was the writing on the hands. But, there have been a few theories._

_One of them was, of course, religion. That God made us with the thought of being with another for the rest of our lives. It was known that humans were pack animals, we only live for the enjoyment of others, whether that be ruling them, killing them or living with them. The point was that nobody aimed to live their life separate from the rest of the human population for ever, and even if they did, they would soon feel the want to intergrade back into the society that we know today. The reason for that is, well, it is simply the way that God made us._

_Scientists weren’t really happy with that answer, for obvious reason. They, however, have only speculation to fall back on due to the unspoken rule of not experimenting on people for the fear of never meeting their soulmate. But no matter what they did, they could never scientifically proven when a baby gets their word written on them during their time in the womb, let alone figure out how the words were always right._

_Some scientists believe that due to these words that you drive you to believe that there is such thing as a soulmate. They believe that the words are supposed to give you a sense of reason by making you believe that there is someone who was made for you, but that person doesn’t exist. Because of that, you go and find the next best person, who had your first or last words to them. This theory is good and all, but it still doesn’t explain why it happens._

_A popular theory is-_

 

“Whatcha reading?”

Kaneki looked up to see Hide. After the two of them met and became friends, best friends, Hide liked to know every single thing about him. Like his favourite foods, hamburgers, his hobbies, reading, and his family members, his mother and her sister, her sister husband and their child, but he loved mother the most. Hide would then tell him the answers to his own questions, his favourite food was also burgers, but with cheese, his favourite past was reading manga and watching his favourite TV shows, Fullmetal Alchemist being at the current top. He lives with his grandmother, but he also has his hardworking father, but he doesn’t know what his job is, but he was sure that it was office based. Kaneki noted that when Hide said the last bit, he was scratching his cheek, but he was sure that meant nothing.

“A book on soulmates.” Kaneki replied, showing his new-ish friend (they met about a month ago) the cover of the rather thin book while he continued with the paragraph he was reading.

But it seems that he would not be getting the peace and quiet he wanted to read this book in 

“I don’t get why you’re reading about soulmates. We’ve already learned about it in class, and Miss said that that was all that really known on soulmates due to the fact that people are very unwilling to do experimentations on the subject in fear of not finding their true love.” Hide stopped after his semi-speech on why Kaneki shouldn’t be reading it. Kaneki, however, carried on.

 

_A popular theory is reincarnation. The person that we spend the most time with in the previous life becomes our soulmate in this life. However, this doesn’t mean that that person would act the same in this life. It also explains why some people, which is rare to see, have no writing on their wrist, for it is their first reincarnation and as such, they have never spend any time with anyone in their non-existent past life._

_Scientists are trying to find out more and more every day, however, there is little that can-_

 

“Have you learned anything new, something we haven’t learned in school?” Kaneki looked from his book and looked at the blond. Hide had a curious glint in his eye, and was… happy. It wasn’t often Kaneki saw someone happy, that due to his family not being the most cheerful. But seeing the blond in front of his, smiling without a care in the world and looking like a happy little sunshine, his happy little sunshine. There he was again, being the selfish person that his mother kept trying to stamp out of him, only to fail each time. He should never be selfish, and never towards Hide. He was very lucky to have such a good person like Hide, someone who would willingly spend time with him and not give him dirty looks and hit-

“Kaneki! Dude! Earth to Kaneki!” Kaneki blinked about ten times in quick succession, bringing himself back to reality. Hide now looked concerned, with bits of worry haunting his face.

“Don’t worry Hide, I’m perfectly fine.” Kaneki said as he involuntarily brought his hand up to his chin and scratched the little itch that appeared out of nowhere and for no reason.

Yes, he was such a lucky person to have his own bright sunshine to bring him out of his doom and make him feel better after being in a depressing state. Kaneki wondered if he should be concerned about these mood swings, but decided not to worry about it. He’ll be fine, as long as he had Hide. For that’s all he needed, and Hide would be the only thing hell be selfish about.

And then, finally, his mother can beat it out of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE - 3-07-2016
> 
> I've updated this chapter so there isn't any errors, and I haven't found any so far. Comment if you find one and happy 4th of July to the Americans that celebrate. (I don't becauseI'm British).


	3. 諺 - Proverbs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He didnt know how his legs kept moving over these bumps in his life, but he'll just let them take the lead while he lets his mind wonder over the beautiful scenes he was going past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The italics in this chapter is speech, cause I wanted to try a new style in this chapter.

Hide wasn't a big fan of proverbs.

His grandmother would always say proverbs to the younger child, not that he knew why. She was a wise soul, he'd admit, but sometimes the way that she said it and the time that she said it made him wonder if she has truly lost the plot, even his father would agree. Take the only time he asked about his mother, not long after talking to Kaneki about his own mother. 

It was during dinner one night, and father was home from work early. The almost 11 year old asked his question and stuck a huge mouthful of noodles in his mouth so he wouldn't have to elaborate. The adults looked at each other, than back at the blonde child. It took a while for one of them to say something. It was his grandmother that spoke first. 

_ Ignorance is bliss my child, don't you worry about your mother and eat the noodles. There's luck in the last helping afterall.  _

Hide blinked at his grandmother, then carried on with his dinner, helping himself to seconds. His father hadn't said a word about what his grandmother said, so he must of agreed with her. Then again, he is a man of few words to his only son, so maybe he just didn't want to talk. 

He had yet to find out what happened to his mother, and he wasn't about to give up yet. But the biggest problem right now wasn't his own mother, but rather his friend's. 

He wasn't stupid, he knew what the bruises on Kaneki's arm implied, being bullied wasn't one of them, he hung around with the black haired child long enough to know that the smaller child (poor thing hasn't had a growth spurt in years) wasn't being harassed by any of the other boys in the school. The younger child would always put their hand in their chin when he talked about his mother too. His friend was too easy to read sometimes, but othertimes, he was like a closed book with no title at the front. Somehow, reasons unknown to Hide, he was both when it came to his mother.

So, one day, Hide decided that he wanted to meet his best friend's mother. 

His friend said he couldn't.

_ Sorry Hide, she's at work at this time and very stressed, maybe in the future when she's got more time. _

Hide found this a bit strange. While he knew that his friend didn't live in the more expensive areas of 20th ward, surely they didn't get so little money in her jobs that she has to work so often, leaving Kaneki on his own. As much as his friend loved to keep his nose in a book, there was only so much he could take before he grew lonely. He wanted to do something about it, but when he told his grandmother about Kaneki's mother, all she did was grown and shake her head, muttering to herself, going back to her housework. 

_ A splendid child is born from two common parents,Yoshi-kun. Not everyone's parents are perfect, but don't you worry about that. Now, have you done your homework? _

Hide frowned at the comment, but he didn't carry on with the conversation, not with how fast his grandmother changed the subject. Instead, he went to the TV and put Fullmetal Alchemist on, leaving his homework in his bag. There was a new series being made, he had heard, and the young child couldn't wait for it to come out onto DVD. He knew that his grandmother would have a go at him later for it, he didn't have the heart to care at the moment, he was too concerned for his friend. Maybe some anime would help.

* * *

Kaneki wasn't at school for a whole week.

It was a simple fact that didn't really affect the rest of the class, maybe due to the fact that they didn't socialize with him on a daily basis. But Hide did, and that changed everything. 

At first, he tried to get on with his school work, trying to ignore the fact that his friend was missing. However, as the days began to total up, his behaviour for worse and worse until Friday, the last of the school week, and his friend had yet to show his face at school.

During the whole day, his mood was the worse it has ever been. Hide was naturally a kind and lovable person at heart, but that day all that he seemed to do was snap at people to go away. He didn't do most of his work, instead laying on his arms and looking in front of him, but not quite seeing and during recess, he'd sit at the side on a bench, doing seemingly nothing. It wasn't like he didn't try to do anything about it, but it was like all the energy he used to have had slipped away, leaving an empty shell. He didn't seem to notice that time was slipping past him until he noticed his teacher in front of his line of sight with concerned look on her face. He blinked in shock and lifted his head up to look at his teacher.

_ Are you okay Nagachika-san?  _

Her voice sounded distant, but for some reason, he just wanted to tell her how worried he was for his missing friend. He was about say what was bothering him when he noticed some new bracelets on her wrist, covering up the word “さようなら” that was written delicately on her wrist. 

_ Hey, Sensei, are they new? _

She looked at her wrist and smiled.

_ Yes they are Nagachika-san. My soulmate have them to me because he had to travel to China on a business trip. _

Hide sat up. Even after all these years of knowing Kaneki, he had yet to say that he thought that they were soulmates. In fact, the only time that came up was when Kaneki was reading that book about it. Hide didn't really want to bring it up due to how awkward it would be, but since his teacher had met hers, maybe she knew why he felt so sad.

_ Hey, Sensei, do you feel sad when he isn't around? _

She look at him confused, but nodded, before realising why he asked. So she elaborated.

_ Yes I do, Nagachika-san. Somedays all I want to do is stay in my bed and not do anything until I see him again. But the thing is Nagachika-san, we have to continue on with our everyday lives no matter how we feel. Just because you didn't see Kaneki-san today, or even this week, doesn't mean that you can get away with not doing anything. I'm sure he's feeling just as you are, but just as confused.  _

Hide nodded and stood up, collecting his things and putting them all in his bag, including what he was supposed to do that day. his teacher smiled and waved off while he rushed out of the house and onto the street. Now, where would he find Kaneki?

* * *

 

He found his friend sitting in front of a grave.

It was almost night now, the sun setting and despite the setting that Hide found his friend, he couldn't help be relieved and, dare he say it, happy that he had found him. He was looking sorrowly at the recent grave in front of him, and it wasn't hard for Hide ro realise that the kanji in the new gravestone spelt out his best friend's mothers name. Hide didnt know what to do, so he say down next to his friend, keeping him company. After a while, he broke the scilence .

_ Wake from death and return to life. _

Kaneki went to stare at him, confusion etched onto his face.

_ What? _

Hide shrugged.

_ My grandmother likes proverbs, tells them to me all the time, and most of the time I don't really get them. However, when I was little, I was crying over something and she said this: “It is the same life whether we spend it crying or laughing.” I don't know why, but I've lived by it ever since. _

Hide stood up, dusting himself off and looking at the newly turned on streetlights.

_ Hey Kaneki, wanna come round mine for dinner, Obaa-san is making ramen for dinner tonight, and she always makes too much. _

  
_ Okay, Hide. Let's go. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been what *looks at watch* over a month since I've updated! For that I'm sorry but I had a a writer's block over this story, so I started to write another one, then my laptop screen broke, so this chapter was written on my phone. Don't worry, the next chapter shouldn't take too long to write. I don't think there's many chapters left in this arc until I have to write the next arc. See you soon!


	4. 図書 - Books

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even the brightest of all the suns and stars in the sky have their dark patches. Either way, people only see a glowing fireball.

Ever since meeting Kaneki, books had made such a big part of his life. 

It wasn't that he'd never read before meeting his friend, but it had never been such an important part. He'd read the manga to his favourite anime so he'd know what to expect in upcoming episodes, but that was it. 

Than he met Kaneki, his maybe-quite possibly-soulmate. 

The boy raced through books like Hide did food. After he finished the lot of books he owned, he'd reread them, again, and again, and again. It was amazing that the poor boy didn't get sick of reading the same kanji over and over, if it was Hide, he would of gotten sick after the first time of reading the second chapter! He'll never understand how his friend did it, reading all of those books, depressing one too. 

Unfortunately, Kaneki's Aunt didn't want him to keep all of Kaneki's father's books, saying there wasn't enough room in the house for them, meaning he had to pick his top five books, and get rid of the rest. He was distraught, so Hide decided to take in the ones that Kaneki couldn't have. They now lived underneath his bed, living next to his pile of manga that he has brought and didn't want to throw away.

Because of this, it made it very easy to know what to get his friend for his birthday. All that was needed was a book to make the boy smile. All that was needed to do was to get the right sort of one.

That was the hard bit. 

Hide was pretty sure that his friend had read every horror book that was on the shelves right now, leaving the blond haired child with nothing to go on with. He was bummed, yes, as his friend was hard to get presents for. 

Hence why he was stood in the middle of the book shop, staring at the same place for about 5 minutes, winding what to buy. For some reason, the shop has began to get busier than it was an hour ago, but the 11 year old dismissed the sudden increase of people on the holiday season. Hide found it a shame that his friend was born just 5 days before Christmas, but that wasn't anything he could help with.

Now, to find the right book.

Hide began to walk in between each of the bookshelves, using his hand to navigate between each of the spines of the book, reading each of the titles carefully. How Kaneki managed to pick the right sort of book just from the title alone confused Hide. he picked up a book. Finders Keepers. That sounded scary, but no, it was just a romantic novial. Digging, Hide put the book back on the shelf where he found it. He wasn't going anywhere at this rate. 

Turning towards the exit of the store, ha notices a poster for a newly released book.

Dear Kafka.

It sounded interesting, Hide thought, a book filled with a collection of short horror stories. It was something that Kaneki would read, and that was the reason why he was here afterall. It was a recent release as well, Hide noted, meaning that his friend might've not even heard of it before. Brilliant.

So he brought the book, and for some reason, on his way home, it felt like he was being followed or watched.

~~~~~

Hide`s grandmother wasn't in when he entered the house, not that he expected her in the first place. She had said that she was going to visit the markets tonight, meaning that Hide had the most of three hours before his father for in from work. He opened the bag that contain his friend's present and took out the book. 

For a horror book, it looked incredibly full. There wasn't any pictures at the front and the back didn't give any indication or any suggest to what the stories were about. This made the blond haired child curious about what was in the book. So, he read the first page.

 

It is not my place as the author to tell the audience if the characters in these stories are good or bad. Not is it my role as the writer to tell you why the events are taking place. My job is to simply tell you the events of the tale that you, the reader, spent money on to read. So, let's start with the story of the smart little boy, who has no idea who his mother was before she does and who his father is, dispute living is the same house together.

The story starts on the day like any other day...

 

Hide shut the book. Despite reading about half the book, he still didn't get the appeal that Kaneki has towards them. Nevertheless, it was a good book and it had still somehow captivated him into its clutches. He was sure his friend was going to love it.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up suddenly, and Hide was almost afraid to turn around. Almost being the key word, for in the split second that he turned his head, he noticed a silhouette running past his window. Thinking on his feet, Hide began to close all the curtains and blinds in the house. 

He hated it when this happened. It usually means that he has to move house. Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this chapter, while faster than the last, feels like a whole disappointment for me. I was supposed to include a .ca more characters, but now it's just Hide. That and I font think that I did Ego any favours with her book....
> 
> However, on a brighter more, does anyone have any requests? Please do for I am soon going to be going onto the next part of this story, and that's when it starts to get gritty, is all I'm going to say without saying what the next arc is going to be about ^-^. Just comment below what you wish from the characters.


End file.
